Back side illuminated image sensor with reduced sidewall-induced leakage

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method of fabricating an image sensor device. An exemplary includes forming a plurality of radiation-sensing regions in a substrate. The substrate has a front surface, a back surface, and a sidewall that extends from the front surface to the back surface. The exemplary method further includes forming an interconnect structure over the front surface of the substrate, removing a portion of the substrate to expose a metal interconnect layer of the interconnect structure, and forming a bonding pad on the interconnect structure in a manner so that the bonding pad is electrically coupled to the exposed metal interconnect layer and separated from the sidewall of the substrate.

PRIORITY DATA

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/431,132, filed Feb. 13, 2017, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/875,002,filed Oct. 5, 2015, which is a divisional application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/028,471, filed Feb. 16, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No.9,165,970, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Semiconductor image sensors are used to sense radiation such as light.Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CIS) andcharge-coupled device (CCD) sensors are widely used in variousapplications such as digital still camera or mobile phone cameraapplications. These devices utilize an array of pixels in a substrate,including photodiodes and transistors, that can absorb radiationprojected toward the substrate and convert the sensed radiation intoelectrical signals.

A back side illuminated (BSI) image sensor device is one type of imagesensor device. These BSI image sensor devices are operable to detectlight from its back side. A BSI image sensor device has a relativelylarge step-height between a device region of a wafer and a bond padregion. This step height may lead to etching difficulties when bond padsare formed, which may induce leakage between adjacent bond pads througha sidewall of the wafer. Such leakage degrades BSI image sensor deviceperformance and is therefore undesirable.

Hence, while existing methods of fabricating BSI image sensor deviceshave been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have notbeen entirely satisfactory in every aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isemphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in theindustry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, thedimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased orreduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for fabricating an imagesensor device according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are diagrammatic fragmentary cross-sectionalside views of an image sensor device at various stages of fabrication inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic top level view of an image sensor device at astage of fabrication in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides manydifferent embodiments, or examples, for implementing different featuresof the invention. Specific examples of components and arrangements aredescribed below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, ofcourse, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Moreover,the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in thedescription that follows may include embodiments in which the first andsecond features are formed in direct contact, and may also includeembodiments in which additional features may be formed interposing thefirst and second features, such that the first and second features maynot be in direct contact. Various features may be arbitrarily drawn indifferent scales for the sake of simplicity and clarity.

Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method 10 for fabricating aback-side illuminated (BSI) image sensor device according to variousaspects of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the method 10begins with block 12 in which a substrate having a front surface and aback surface and a sidewall is provided. The sidewall is perpendicularto the front surface and the back surface. The method 10 continues withblock 14 in which a plurality of radiation-sensing regions are formed inthe substrate. Each of the radiation-sensing regions is operable tosense radiation projected toward the radiation-sensing region throughthe back surface. The method 10 continues with block 16 in which aninterconnect structure is formed over the front surface of thesubstrate. The method 10 continues with block 18 in which a portion ofthe substrate is removed to expose a metal interconnect layer of theinterconnect structure. The method 10 continues with block 20 in which abonding pad is formed on the interconnect structure in a manner so thatthe bonding pad is electrically coupled to the exposed metalinterconnect layer and separated from the sidewall of the substrate.

FIGS. 2 to 7 are diagrammatic fragmentary sectional side views ofvarious embodiments of an apparatus that is a BSI image sensor device 30at various stages of fabrication according to aspects of the method 10of FIG. 1. The image sensor device 30 includes an array or grid ofpixels for sensing and recording an intensity of radiation (such aslight) directed toward a back-side of the image sensor device 30. Theimage sensor device 30 may include a charge-coupled device (CCD),complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS), anactive-pixel sensor (APS), or a passive-pixel sensor. The image sensordevice 30 further includes additional circuitry and input/outputs thatare provided adjacent to the grid of pixels for providing an operationenvironment for the pixels and for supporting external communicationwith the pixels. It is understood that FIGS. 2 to 8 have been simplifiedfor a better understanding of the inventive concepts of the presentdisclosure and may not be drawn to scale.

With reference to FIG. 2, the image sensor device 30 includes a devicesubstrate 32. The device substrate 32 is a silicon substrate doped witha p-type dopant such as boron (for example a p-type substrate).Alternatively, the device substrate 32 could be another suitablesemiconductor material. For example, the device substrate 32 may be asilicon substrate that is doped with an n-type dopant such asphosphorous or arsenic (an n-type substrate). The device substrate 32could include other elementary semiconductors such as germanium anddiamond. The device substrate 32 could optionally include a compoundsemiconductor and/or an alloy semiconductor. Further, the devicesubstrate 32 could include an epitaxial layer (epi layer), may bestrained for performance enhancement, and may include asilicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure. Referring back to FIG. 2, thedevice substrate 32 has a front side (also referred to as a frontsurface) 34 and a back side (also referred to as a back surface) 36. Thedevice substrate 32 also has an initial thickness 38 that is in a rangefrom about 100 microns (um) to about 3000 um. In the present embodiment,the initial thickness 38 is about 750 um.

Radiation-sensing regions—for example, pixels 40 and 42—are formed inthe device substrate 32. The pixels 40 and 42 are operable to senseradiation, such as an incident light 43, that is projected toward theback side 36 of the device substrate 32. The pixels 40 and 42 eachinclude a photodiode in the present embodiment. In other embodiments,the pixels 40 and 42 may include pinned layer photodiodes, photogates,reset transistors, source follower transistors, and transfertransistors. The pixels 40 and 42 may also be referred to asradiation-detection devices.

The pixels 40 and 42 may be varied from one another to have differentjunction depths, thicknesses, widths, and so forth. For the sake ofsimplicity, only two pixels 40 and 42 are illustrated in FIG. 2, but itis understood that any number of radiation-sensing regions may beimplemented in the device substrate 32. In the embodiment shown, thepixels 40 and 42 are formed by performing an implantation process 46 onthe device substrate 32 from the front side 34. The implantation process46 includes doping the device substrate 32 with a p-type dopant such asboron. In an alternative embodiment, the implantation process 46 mayinclude doping the device substrate 32 with an n-type dopant such asphosphorous or arsenic. In other embodiments, the pixels 40 and 42 mayalso be formed by a diffusion process.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the device substrate 32 includes isolationstructures—for example, isolation structures 47 and 49—that provideelectrical and optical isolation between the pixels 40 and 42. Theisolation structures 47 and 49 include shallow trench isolation (STI)structures that are formed of a dielectric material such as siliconoxide or silicon nitride. The STI structures are formed by etchingopenings into the substrate 32 from the front side 34 and thereafterfilling the openings with the dielectric material. In other embodiments,the isolation structures 47 and 49 may include doped isolation features,such as heavily doped n-type or p-type regions. It is understood thatthe isolation structures 47 and 49 are formed before the pixels 40 and42. Also, for the sake of simplicity, only two isolation structures 47and 49 are illustrated in FIG. 2, but it is understood that any numberof isolation structures may be implemented in the device substrate 32 sothat the radiation-sensing regions such as pixels 40 and 42 may beproperly isolated.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the pixels 40 and 42 and isolation structures47 and 49 are formed in a region of the image sensor device 30 referredto as a pixel region 52. The image sensor 30 also includes a peripheryregion 54, a bonding pad region 56 (also referred to as a bond padregion), and a scribe line region 59. The dashed lines in FIG. 2designate the approximate boundaries between the regions 52, 54, 56, and59. The periphery region 54 includes devices 60 and 61 that need to bekept optically dark. For example, the device 60 in the presentembodiment may be a digital device, such as an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) device or a system-on-chip (SOC) device. Thedevice 61 may be a reference pixel that is used to establish a baselineof an intensity of light for the image sensor device 30.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the bonding pad region 56 includes a regionwhere one or more bonding pads (not illustrated) of image sensor device30 will be formed in a later processing stage, so that electricalconnections between the image sensor device 30 and outside devices maybe established. The scribe line region 59 includes a region thatseparates one semiconductor die (for example, a semiconductor die thatincludes the bonding pad region 56, the periphery region 54, and thepixel region 52) from an adjacent semiconductor die (not illustrated).The scribe line region 59 is cut therethrough in a later fabricationprocess to separate adjacent dies before the dies are packaged and soldas integrated circuit chips. The scribe line region 59 is cut in such away that the semiconductor devices in each die are not damaged. It isalso understood that these regions 52-59 extend vertically above andbelow the device substrate 32.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an interconnect structure 65 is formed over thefront side 34 of the device substrate 32. The interconnect structure 65includes a plurality of patterned dielectric layers and conductivelayers that provide interconnections (e.g., wiring) between the variousdoped features, circuitry, and input/output of the image sensor device30. The interconnect structure 65 includes an interlayer dielectric(ILD) and a multilayer interconnect (MLI) structure. The MLI structureincludes contacts, vias and metal lines. For the purposes ofillustration, a plurality of conductive lines 66 and vias/contacts 68are shown in FIG. 3, it being understood that the conductive lines 66and vias/contacts 68 illustrated are merely exemplary, and the actualpositioning and configuration of the conductive lines 66 andvias/contacts 68 may vary depending on design needs.

The MLI structure may include conductive materials such as aluminum,aluminum/silicon/copper alloy, titanium, titanium nitride, tungsten,polysilicon, metal silicide, or combinations thereof, being referred toas aluminum interconnects. Aluminum interconnects may be formed by aprocess including physical vapor deposition (PVD) (or sputtering),chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), orcombinations thereof. Other manufacturing techniques to form thealuminum interconnect may include photolithography processing andetching to pattern the conductive materials for vertical connection (forexample, vias/contacts 68) and horizontal connection (for example,conductive lines 66). Alternatively, a copper multilayer interconnectmay be used to form the metal patterns. The copper interconnectstructure may include copper, copper alloy, titanium, titanium nitride,tantalum, tantalum nitride, tungsten, polysilicon, metal silicide, orcombinations thereof. The copper interconnect structure may be formed bya technique including CVD, sputtering, plating, or other suitableprocesses.

Still referring to FIG. 3, a buffer layer 70 is formed on theinterconnect structure 65. In the present embodiment, the buffer layer70 includes a dielectric material such as silicon oxide. Alternatively,the buffer layer 70 may optionally include silicon nitride. The bufferlayer 70 is formed by CVD, PVD, or other suitable techniques. The bufferlayer 70 is planarized to form a smooth surface by a chemical mechanicalpolishing (CMP) process.

Thereafter, a carrier substrate 75 is bonded with the device substrate32 through the buffer layer 70, so that processing the back side 36 ofthe device substrate 32 can be performed. The carrier substrate 75 inthe present embodiment is similar to the substrate 32 and includes asilicon material. Alternatively, the carrier substrate 75 may include aglass substrate or another suitable material. The carrier substrate 75may be bonded to the device substrate 32 by molecular forces—a techniqueknown as direct bonding or optical fusion bonding—or by other bondingtechniques known in the art, such as metal diffusion or anodic bonding.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the buffer layer 70 provides electricalisolation between the device substrate 32 and the carrier substrate 75.The carrier substrate 75 provides protection for the various featuresformed on the front side 34 of the device substrate 32, such as thepixels 40 and 42. The carrier substrate 75 also provides mechanicalstrength and support for processing the back side 36 of the devicesubstrate 32 as discussed below. After bonding, the device substrate 32and the carrier substrate 75 may optionally be annealed to enhancebonding strength.

Referring back to FIG. 3, a thinning process 80 is then performed tothin the device substrate 32 from the back side 36. The thinning process80 may include a mechanical grinding process and a chemical thinningprocess. A substantial amount of substrate material may be first removedfrom the device substrate 32 during the mechanical grinding process.Afterwards, the chemical thinning process may apply an etching chemicalto the back side 36 of the device substrate 32 to further thin thedevice substrate 32 to a thickness 85. In the present embodiment, thethickness 85 is less than about 5 um, for example about 2-3 um. In anembodiment, the thickness 85 is greater than at least about 1 um. It isalso understood that the particular thicknesses disclosed in the presentdisclosure are mere examples and that other thicknesses may beimplemented depending on the type of application and design requirementsof the image sensor device 30.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a portion of the device substrate 32 in thebonding pad region 56 and the scribe line region 59 is removed by anetching process 100. Thus, an ILD layer 110 of the interconnectstructure 65 within the bonding pad region 56 is exposed. The etchingprocess 100 also results in a sidewall 120 of the device substrate 32.The sidewall 120 extends in a direction that is perpendicular to thedirection in which the front side 34 or the back side 36 extends. In theembodiment shown, the sidewall 120 extends in a vertical direction,whereas the front side 34 and the back side 36 each extend in ahorizontal (or lateral) direction. The sidewall 120 also isapproximately aligned with an internal seal ring that is formed later.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an oxide layer 130 is formed over the back side36 of the device substrate 32 and over the exposed surface of the ILDlayer 110 in the bonding pad region 56. Thereafter, a portion of thebonding pad region is etched to expose a portion of the top-mostconductive line 66 in a Metal-1 layer. A bonding pad will be formed onthe exposed conductive line 66 in the Metal-1 layer. At this stage offabrication, the portion of the ILD layer 110 that extends beyond thesidewall 120 has a lateral dimension 140. In other words, the portion ofthe ILD layer 110 protrudes horizontally beyond the sidewall 120 by thedistance of dimension 140. In an embodiment, the lateraldimension/distance is in a range from about 3 um to about 4 um. It isalso understood that a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer maybe formed over the oxide layer 130, and an additional oxide layer may beformed over the BARC layer. However, for reasons of simplicity, the BARClayer and the additional oxide layer are not illustrated herein.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a conductive layer 150 is formed over the oxidelayer 130 from the back side 36 and over the conductive line 66 in thebonding pad region 56. In an embodiment, the conductive layer 150includes a metal or a metal alloy material, for example aluminum (Al) oran aluminum copper alloy (AlCu). A portion of the conductive layer 150comes into physical contact with the top-most conductive line 66 in theMetal-1 layer in the interconnect structure 65. This portion of theconductive layer 150 will be patterned into a bonding pad later.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an etching process 160 is performed to removethe portion of the conductive layer 150 covering the pixel region 52, sothat radiation that is supposed to be detected by the pixels 40 and 42will not be obstructed by the conductive layer 150 (likely opaque). Theetching process 160 also removes a portion of the conductive layer 150in the bonding pad region 56 in a manner such that the remaining portionof the conductive layer 150 in the bonding pad region 56 forms aconductive bonding pad 170. The bonding pad 170 is physically separatedfrom the sidewall 120 of the device substrate 32. The bonding pad 170comes into contact with (and is therefore electrically coupled to) theconductive line 66 of the Metal-1 layer. Therefore, through the bondingpad 170, electrical connections can be established between the imagesensor device 30 and external devices. The bonding pad 170 may have alateral dimension or a width in a range from about 50 um to about 200um, for example about 80 um. In other words, the lateral dimension ofthe bonding pad 170 is substantially greater than the dimension 140shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, it is emphasized again that the variousfeatures and components of FIG. 7 are not drawn in scale.

A portion of the bonding pad 170 (which can be viewed as an extension ofthe bonding pad 170) overlies the portion of the ILD layer 110. Thisportion of the bonding pad 170 has a lateral dimension 180 that issmaller than the lateral dimension 140. In other words, thisconfiguration (having the dimension 140 be greater than the dimension180) ensures that the bonding pad 170 is physically separated from thesidewall 120 and any residue 150A of the conductive layer 150 left onthe sidewall 120 due to the limitations of the etching process 160. Theresidue 150A potentially exists because of a relatively large stepheight 200 between the back side 36 of the device substrate 32 and thebonding pad 170. The step height 200 is roughly equal to the reducedthickness 85 of the device substrate 32, which is about 2-3 um in anembodiment. As a result of the large step height 200, it is difficultfor the etching process 160 to completely get rid of the entire portionof the conductive layer 150 on the sidewall 120. As a result, theresidue 150A is likely to exist on a portion of the sidewall 120. Ifthis residue 150A is not completely de-coupled from the bonding pad 170,then the bonding pad 170 will short circuit with an adjacent bondingpad. This shorting is illustrated more clearly from a top viewperspective, as discussed below.

Referring to FIG. 8, a simplified top-level view of a portion of theimage sensor device 30 is illustrated. Two adjacent bonding pads 170Aand 170B are shown in a vertically-aligned manner in the bonding padregion 56. The bonding pads 170A are vertically separated, and a dummypattern 210 may exist between these adjacent bonding pads 170A and 170B.The residue 150A vertically spans through the sidewall of the devicesubstrate 32. It can be seen now that had the bonding pads 170A and 170Bnot been physically separated from the sidewall of the device substrate32, then the residue 150A may in effect form a conductive path betweenthe bonding pads 170A and 170B, thereby shorting these two bonding padstogether. This shorting of the bonding pads 170A-170B is undesirable, asit causes pad-to-pad leakage. The relatively big step-height 200 (shownin FIG. 7) exacerbates the shorting problem, because as the step-heightincreases, it is increasingly more difficult for the sidewall of thedevice substrate 32 to be free of residue of the conductive layer 150.This means that as the step-height becomes taller, shorting betweenadjacent bonding pads is more likely for existing devices.

Here, the potential shorting problem is prevented by making sure thatthe bonding pads 170A-170B are severed from the sidewall (and anypotential residue 150A formed on the sidewall) by the etching process160. Thus, any residue 150A formed on the sidewall will not become aproblem, and the bonding pads 170A and 170B are still electricallyisolated from one another. This is one of the advantages offered by theembodiments disclosed herein, though it is understood that otherembodiments may offer different advantages, and that no particularadvantage is required for all embodiments. Another advantage is that themethods and structure disclosed herein are easy to implement andrequires no extra processes. Further, since conductive residue left onthe sidewall is no longer an issue, the load of the etching process usedto define the bonding pads is lessened. In other words, such etchingprocess need not remove all the conductive material on the sidewallanymore.

Referring back to FIG. 7, though not illustrated, additional processingis performed to complete the fabrication of the image sensor device 30.For example, a passivation layer may be formed around the image sensordevice 30 for protection (for example against dust or humidity). Colorfilters may be formed within the pixel region 52. The color filters maybe positioned such that the incoming light is directed thereon andtherethrough. The color filters may include a dye-based (or pigmentbased) polymer or resin for filtering a specific wavelength band of theincoming light, which corresponds to a color spectrum (e.g., red, green,and blue). Thereafter, micro-lenses are formed over the color filtersfor directing and focusing the incoming light toward specificradiation-sensing regions in the device substrate 32, such as pixels 40and 42. The micro-lenses may be positioned in various arrangements andhave various shapes depending on a refractive index of material used forthe micro-lens and distance from a sensor surface. It is also understoodthat the device substrate 32 may also undergo an optional laserannealing process before the forming of the color filters or themicro-lenses.

One of the broader forms of the present disclosure involves an imagesensor device that includes: a substrate having a front surface, a backsurface, and a sidewall that is perpendicular to the front and backsurfaces; a radiation-detection device formed in the substrate, theradiation-detection device being operable to detect radiation waves thatenter the substrate through the back surface; an interconnect structureformed on the front surface of the substrate, the interconnect structureextending beyond the sidewall of the substrate; and a conductive padformed on the interconnect structure, the conductive pad being adjacentto, but separated from, the sidewall.

Another of the broader forms of the present disclosure involves an imagesensor device that includes: a substrate having a front side, a backside, and a sidewall connecting the front and back sides; a plurality ofradiation-sensing regions disposed in the substrate, each of theradiation-sensing regions being operable to sense radiation projectedtoward the radiation-sensing region through the back side; aninterconnect structure that is coupled to the front side of thesubstrate, the interconnect structure including a plurality ofinterconnect layers and extending beyond the sidewall of the substrate;and a bonding pad that is spaced apart from the sidewall of thesubstrate, the bonding pad being electrically coupled to one of theinterconnect layers of the interconnect structure.

Still another of the broader forms of the present disclosure involves amethod of fabricating an image sensor device, the method includes:providing a substrate having a front surface and a back surface and asidewall that is perpendicular to the front surface and the backsurface; forming a plurality of radiation-sensing regions in thesubstrate, each of the radiation-sensing regions being operable to senseradiation projected toward the radiation-sensing region through the backsurface; forming an interconnect structure over the front surface of thesubstrate; removing a portion of the substrate to expose a metalinterconnect layer of the interconnect structure; and forming a bondingpad on the interconnect structure in a manner so that the bonding pad iselectrically coupled to the exposed metal interconnect layer andseparated from the sidewall of the substrate.

The foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the detailed description thatfollows. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a substrate having a firstsurface, an opposing second surface and a sidewall surface extendingfrom the first to the second surface; a conductive material layerdisposed over the second surface and the sidewall surface of thesubstrate; a first pixel and a second pixel disposed in the substrate,wherein no portion of the conductive material layer disposed over thesecond surface of the substrate is disposed directly over the firstpixel such that no portion of the first pixel is covered by theconductive material layer, wherein the conductive material layerdisposed over the second surface of the substrate is disposed directlyover the second pixel such that the second pixel is covered by theconductive material; and an interconnect structure disposed on the firstsurface of the substrate.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising:a conductive pad disposed directly on the interconnect structure; and adielectric layer that interfaces with the second surface of thesubstrate, the sidewall surface of the substrate and the conductive pad.3. The device of claim 2, wherein the dielectric layer extendscontinuously from over the first pixel, the second pixel, the sidewallof the substrate and to the conductive pad.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein a first portion of the conductive material layer physicallycontacts a first portion of the dielectric layer that interfaces withthe second surface of the substrate, and wherein a second portion of theconductive material layer physically contacts a second portion of thedielectric layer that interfaces with the sidewall surface of thesubstrate, and wherein the first portion of the conductive materiallayer is disposed only over the second surface and the second portion ofthe conductive material layer is disposed only along the sidewall of thesubstrate.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the dielectric layerincludes an oxide material.
 6. The device of claim 1, furthercomprising: a third pixel disposed within the substrate; and adielectric isolation feature disposed within the substrate between thefirst and third pixels.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the firstpixel and the third pixel interface with the dielectric isolationfeature.
 8. A device comprising: a substrate having a first side, asecond opposing side, and a sidewall extending from the first side tothe second side; a radiation-sensing region disposed within thesubstrate and operable to sense radiation through the first side of thesubstrate; an interconnect structure disposed over the second side ofthe substrate, wherein the interconnect structure extends under thesubstrate continuously from directly below the sidewall to directlybelow the radiation-sensing region; and a conductive material layerincluding a first portion disposed on the sidewall of the substrate andextending on the sidewall of the substrate between the first side andthe second side of the substrate, wherein the first portion of theconductive material layer is disposed on the sidewall of the substratebelow the first side of the substrate and above the second side of thesubstrate, the conductive material layer further including a secondportion disposed on a portion of the interconnect structure and a thirdportion disposed on the second side of the substrate, wherein the first,second and third portions of the conductive material layer arediscontinuous with respect to each other such that the conductivematerial layer does not extend from the first portion of the conductivematerial layer to the second portion and the third portion of theconductive material layer.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein theinterconnect structure disposed on the first side of the substratecovers the entire radiation-sensing region such that radiation isprevented from passing through the interconnect structure to theradiation-sensing region through the first side of the substrate. 10.The device of claim 8, wherein the second portion of the conductivematerial layer is part of a boning pad structure.
 11. The device ofclaim 8, further comprising a dielectric material layer disposeddirectly on the second side and the sidewall surface of the substratethereby preventing the first and third portions of the conductivematerial layer from interfacing with the substrate.
 12. The device ofclaim 11, wherein the dielectric material layer extends continuouslyform over the second side of the substrate, along the sidewall of thesubstrate and to the second portion of the conductive material layer.13. The device of claim 8, wherein the substrate is a semiconductorsubstrate.
 14. The device of claim 8, further comprising a referencepixel disposed in the substrate, and wherein the third portion of theconductive material is disposed over the reference pixel therebypreventing radiation from reaching the reference pixel through thesecond side of the substrate.
 15. A device comprising: a semiconductorsubstrate having a first side, a second opposing side, and a sidewallextending from the first side to the second side; a first pixel disposedwithin the semiconductor substrate and operable to sense radiationthrough the second side of the semiconductor substrate and a secondpixel disposed in the substrate; an interconnect structure disposed onthe first side of the semiconductor substrate directly under the firstpixel and the second pixel; a conductive layer including a first portiondisposed on the second side of the semiconductor substrate and a secondportion disposed on the sidewall of the semiconductor substrate, thesecond portion of the conductive layer being electrically isolated fromthe first portion, the first portion of the conductive layer covering atleast a portion of the second pixel; and a bonding pad formed of aconductive material that directly interfaces with the interconnectstructure, the conductive material being electrically isolated from theconductive layer.
 16. The device of claim 15, wherein no portion of theconductive layer covers the first pixel, and wherein the first portionof the conductive layer covers the entire second pixel.
 17. The deviceof claim 15, wherein a portion of the semiconductor substrate extendsfrom an edge of the first pixel to the second side of the semiconductorsubstrate, wherein the edge faces the second side of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 18. The device of claim 15, wherein the conductive layer andthe bonding pad are formed of the same material.
 19. The device of claim15, wherein the conductive layer includes a metal material.
 20. Thedevice of claim 15, further comprising a dielectric material disposedbetween the second side of the semiconductor substrate and the firstportion of the conductive layer.